The polyester polymers found to be of utility in the practice of the present invention are water-dissipatable polymers such as disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 4,335,220 to Coney entitled "Sequestering Agents and Compositions Produced Therefrom." According to the Coney patent, certain polymeric polyesters that comprise the reaction products of (a) at least one difunctional dicarboxylic acid; (b) at least one difunctional sulfomonomer containing at least one metal sulfonate group attached to an aromatic nucleus, the functional groups being hydroxy, carboxyl or amino, and (c) a glycol or a glycol and diamine mixture, the diamine having two --NRH groups and the glycol containing two --CH.sub.2 OH groups of which at least 0.1 mole percent, based on the total mole percent of hydroxy or hydroxy and amino equivalents, is a poly(ethylene glycol) having the structural formula H(OCH.sub.2 -CH.sub.2).sub.n OH, n being an integer of 2 and about 500, with the proviso that the mole percent of the poly(ethylene glycol) within the range is inversely proportional to the quantity of n within the range, said polyester as defined above having an inherent viscosity of at least about 0.1 as defined in the Coney patent and including the reaction products based on the ester forming or esteramide derivatives of said reactants (a), (b), and (c), are suitable to sequester finely divided water insoluble, hydrophobic, deformable organic substances of low dipole moment, i.e., from 0 to 1.8. Examples of such substances are recited by Coney at column 6, lines 12-21 and include sucrose esters, aromatic organic compounds, aliphatic or alicyclic organic compounds, paraffins, vegetable oils, etc. The Coney patent is incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,779,993 to Kibler et al; 3,734,874 to Kibler et al and 4,233,196 to Sublett also each relate to compositions comprising an aqueous dissipation of polymers described as linear, water dissipatable, meltable polyesters or polyester-amides prepared from the reaction of glycol, dicarboxylic acid, and difunctional monomer components. Each of these patents disclose that the difunctional sulfomonomer component of the polyesters or polyesteramides therein disclosed may advantageously be a dicarboxylic acid or ester thereof containing a metal sulfonate group, a glycol containing a metal sulfonate group or a hydroxy acid containing a metal sulfonate group, the metal ion of the sulfonate salt being Na.sup.+, Li.sup.+, Mg.sup.+, Ca.sup.++, Cu.sup.++, Ni.sup.++, Fe.sup.++, Fe.sup.+++, or the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,304,900 and 4,304,901 to O'Neill et al also each disclose water-dissipatable polyesters or polyesteramides wherein at least one part of the monomeric components from which there is derived is a polycarboxylic acid or polyhydric alcohol containing a sulfonic acid salt moiety derived from a nitrogen containing base, the polymers being useful as adhesives, coatings, films and the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,713 to Small; 4,374,572, 4,302,350, and 4,428,872 each to Callicott; 4,087,360 to Faust et al; 4,283,300 to Kurtz; and 4,049,467 and 4,129,423 each to Rubin disclose managanese stain removal/retardation methods and compositions, suitable for use, for example, in connection with toilet cleaning and automatic dishwashing using an oxidizing agent.
The Callicott, Faust et al and Kurtz patents concern the use of polymeric materials, e.g., polyacrylics, partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides, sodium polyacrylates, and ethylene-maleic anhydride copolymers. Small concerns the use of glassy phosphate, while Rubin concerns the use of dihydroxy maleic acid, dihydroxy tartaric acid, and their alkali metal salts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,629 to Goodenough discloses a composition and method for removing ion stains from porcelain, the composition containing a chelate agent able to couple Fe.sup.+++ and a soluble Fe.sup.++ salt, the composition having a pH between 1.5 and 4.5.